Trolley ear



Oct. 20, 1931. WENNAGEL 1,828,008

TROLIJEY EAR Filed Dec. 31, 1929 Patented Oct. 20, 1931' iszaea 5 GnoRGE-F. wmmem, or BjALTIMORECOUNTY, MARYLANn' TROLLEY: EAR 1 t lApplication" filed December :31, 1929. Serial No. 417,805.

The invention relates to conductorsupports and has special reference to what are known asftrolley ears -uscd for suspending trolley a wires from whatever supportsare provided for the purpose.

. It is well known thatthe'usual type-of trolley ear compr-ises"an V elongated -metal membencarriedby a clamp and open at its bottom to engage upon or receive a trolley wire, the metal beingLpeeried over at the edges of the opening to retain the conductor pla ce and 'orevent' it from {dropping down. Numerous devices: of 'this-character are onthe 'market andjin-servicebut all are apparently unsatisfac-tory for yarlous reasons, one of which is the difliculty'and time consumed in efi'ecting- .in sta-llation and making, replace;

nients, janotherbeing the high initial costand a still further one being theflow junk value 0 of cars which havebeen discarded-as unfit for further service. lifeofa trolley ear is short as it is subjected to tremendous 'wear,

H especiallyin populous sec'tionstzwhere cars are run at very frequent interya1s. ln'gl'oc'al ities and under'trajific conditionswhere trolley ears must be rep'laced a half dozenor'so times per year the expense of maintaining the trolley equipment in proper condition becomes an important item.

i It is with alljofthe above facts'in view that I have devised thepresent invention which has for its general object the provision of a trolley ear capable of usein connection'with the usual supporting "clamps and upon round trolley wires and which will give the latter all the "advantageouscharacteristics of a trolley of'figure18 drawbacks.

A very important objector theinvention 4Q I to providealtrolley ear whichfmay be ap plied in an extremely'simple manner and which will adequately retain the conductor without it being necessary to peen over o-r up-i set any edges, a feature-of importance when it is considered'thatreplacement ears are applied,- with the trolley wire in place, thus necessitating doing'the work in midair, I

Another object of the invention is to proride a trolleyear which may bemade o-f'any desired length soasfp'ossihly, to cover porcross section with none 'of its tions jof a trolley wirefiwhich have become worn away, it being very well known that a; trolley wire invariablyiwears at the ends of the ears where the trolley wheel runslo'fl? from the ears and strikes agamstit 7 Yet another object is to provide earwhich has a continuous portion extending beneath the trolley wire and which willtherefore positively support thesame. I

f A further object of the invention is to provide a trolley ear which may be formed from a strip of sheet metal of indeterminate length 7 simply-rolled tohave the proper cross sectional configuration. 1 J V q An addlti'onalobjectisto provide'a trolley ear whichwill be very simple and inexpensive to make as well as easy tojin'stall, and also pos itivein action, e'fiieient and; durable in service,

and a general improvementin'the art,

Withthe above and other objects and ad vantages in view, thejinvention preferably r consists in the construction, and modifications thereof, to be hereinafter morefully described and claimed, and; illustrated in panying drawingsin which:

the accom- Figurel isa side, elevat onf o-f-"ia trolley ear constructed in'iaccordan'cejfwith my 'in-' vention, showing it associated with a c0nventional type' of'lclamp and in operativepo'sition upon a trolley wire,' h

Figure 2'is an end elevation of the clamp and ear, I Figure 3 is a perspective view of" the car alone, showing one specific form thereof,

Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views showing modified forms ofthe car, a, 3 7, Figure 6 is a side elevationillustrating yet another modification; and v v Figure?- is an end viewthereot, v Referring more particularlyto the draw-. ings, the letter A designates a; trolley wire ofthe round type andB; represents a conventional type of suspension jclamp which is in.,-common use-, this clamp lincluding jaws which are piv'otally connected 'at D' and urged into clamping engagement with a trola trolley I the entrance to the cylindrical portion 12,

eral different types, the particular one illustrated being covered by U. S. Patent No. 1,461,752, granted July17th, 1923, which patent may be referred to for specific details of the clampif such is necessary. In so far as the present invention is concerned it is sufiicient that the clamp have coasting avvs capabieof gripping the ear to be described.

In carrying out all forms of my inven tionI provide an ear which may be constructed from a simple strip'of sheet metal, preferably copper, which is rolled into any one of the cross sectional shapes to be hereinafter described and folded or bent longitudinally into substantially U-shape. There are of course numerous possible variations and severalare to be described; j V

The ear 10 shown in Figures 1'to 3 coniprises an elongated metallic member formed of sheet metal of suitable gauge rolled orotherwise treated to provide thickened beads 11 atits edges, these beads being intended to be' of a shape capable of being positively gripped by the jaws of whatever suitable clampisused. This member folded or bent I longitudinally and properly shaped to define a. substantially cylindrical portion 12 to re- I ceive and engage upon the conductor A and the ends thereof are preferably slightly tapered off ,asindicatedat 13 tomake an easy approach and run-off for the trolley wheel, thereby reducing the shock up on engagement of'the trolley wheel with theear and similarly reducingtheshock to the trolley wire when the wheel leaves the ear. 7 i In the modification shown in Figure 4 the constructionfis' essentially the same except that the thic kening orfreinfor'oing of the edgespshown at 11," is omitted; -A cylindri-V cal "portion '14 is provided corresponding to ductor engaging, portion 17 which has its edges simply rolledback preferably about longitudinally extending stiffening or reinforcing rods or wires 18.,

. In all of the above/described forms of the I invention it is, intended that the slot or open-r ing in the .ear be ofsuflicientsiz'e to pass easily over the trolley wire andrfor this're'a son the sides defining the opening. are represented as' diij ergei'1 tl Itis alsointended that 1i,o1-;--17,,a.s the casemay be, be somewhat constricted, that is to say of slightly'less di-- ameter than that of the trolley wire so'that by the application-f; a moderate pressure to the earflit can besnapped onto the trolley wire and will remain thereon without assistance so that the workman may have his hands free to manipulate the clamp and effect connection thereof with the ear. There is an additional feature illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 which disclose still another modificathey need :not :be any longer than the width of the jaws inrthe clamps The'edges of-the cut away portions may, if desired. be peenecl over or upset after the earis in placefon the trolley wire so as to increasefthe",holding action, this'being shownat21.

In use, it will. be seen that the ear, regard: less ofwhich form is used, lin'ay be cut to any desired length and may conform to, those in common use in this respect or maybe made long enough to cover badly worn spots in the trolley wire and protectthe same against further wear which is ofQcourse aprogressive proposition ,Iincreasing rapidly, after it once starts. 'Any one of the'ears disclosed'isflengaged with thatrolley wire and pressed thereagainst so as to cause thewlretoenter the elongated cylindricalsaddle portion. 1 The mechanic may then very easily slidethe ,ea'r along the trolley wire to-bring it to the de sired location, aftenwhich he engages-the ear between the'jaws of-the clamp. and turns down the collar--or ringE of the latter to draw. the ear in close and firm engagemjent with the-trolley wire. If at anytime it-is deemed advisableto nove. the trolley wire along with respect to the supports therefor so as to bring worn spots'j ont of proximity with the ears, this can be very readily accom plished'by unscrewing therings or .collarsof the different clamps so that-the gripping action will be relieved, th is permitting: the trolley wireto be pulled throughthe ears. wOf course the ears are subjected to considerable wear in service but whenthey become worn through they need ,not at oncebe discarded V inasmuch as they will still possess supporting ability as the edges-of'the openingworn will still project beneath the curve at thesides of the trolley wire and'retainit 1 as well as the peened over edges of the ordinary type-of car. ..-When wear has progressed to. such an extent that replacement is necessary 'thismay be accomplished very simply by unscrewing the rings or collars of the clamps,. perrnitting the wornoutear or pieces thereof to drop out, and then applying new ears as: above de-. scribed f Another feature worthy, l of (note. :is that there need be no: grade of metal considered one of the figure 8 cross section without the" drawback of the additional cost thereof and without the objectionable feature possessed thereby that they turn sideways where there is a long span between the points of support.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that I have thus provided a very simply constructed and consequently inexpensive trolley ear which will greatly cut down the cost of original installation of trolley systems and minimize the expense of maintenance or upkeep. It is believed that the features of importance have been stressed above and that the benefits will be readily understood by one skilled in the art without further explanation.

While I have shown and described several forms of my invention, all embodying the same general principle,'it should be understood that I reserve the right to makeiall such changes in the details of construction as willnot depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of'the' claims hereunto appended. 1 a

Having thus described the invention, I claimz l o v 1. A trolley ear comprising anelongated metallic member substantially U-shaped in cross section engageable upon a trolley wire to extend beneath the same and having its sides provided withthickened means adapted for engagement between the jaws of a suspension clamp.

2. A trolley ear comprising an elongated metallic member-closed at its bottom and open at its top and adapted to be engaged beneath a trolley wire in embracing relation thereto, the edges at the open top being provided with longitudinally extending outstanding beads adapted for engagement be tween the jaws of a suspension clamp.

3. A trolleyear comp-rising an integral elongated metallic member of general U- shape in cross section and adapted, for engagement upon a trolley wireto extend beneath the same and in embracing relation thereto, said member having the intermediate portions of its sides projected inwardly to define aconstricted entrance to the bight portion and the edge portion of the sides being formed beyond said inwardly projected 7 portions with outstanding projections adapted for engagement between the jaws of a suspension clamp.

4. "A trolley earcomprising a metal mem- I beri-of 'general' U- sh'ape in crosssection and adapted for" engagement upon a trolley :wire

with its-bightportion conformingly'receiv-f ing the same, said member having'the-inten v mediate portions of its sidesfext'ended inwardlyf amt spaced apart a distance less than thediameter of thetrolley wire to which. the I ear is applied so asto elfect snapping engagementonIthewire' v :1 1. 5. :A trolley ear comprisinga metalJmember of general U-shape in cross section and adapted for engagementupon a trolley wire with its bight portion conformingly receivingithe same, s'aidmember having the intermediate portions of its sides extended linwar'dly and spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of the trolley wire towhich the ear-is applied to effect snapping engagement uponthe'wire, and said-sides diverging at their upper edges to guide the wire into the bight portion and being adapted for engage= ment' between the j aws'of a suspension clamp; j

- T 6.- A trolley 'ea r-comprisinga metal member of general U-shape in cross "section and adapted for engagement upon atrolley wire with itsgbightportion conformingly receiving the same, said member having the intermediate portions of its sides extended inwardly and spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of the trolley wire to which the ear is applied, and said sides diverging at their upper edges and being adapted for engagement between the jaws of suspension clamp, the space between the edges of said sides being greater than the diameter of the trolley wire said edges being formed with rolled beads.

q 7 A trolley ear comprisingan elongated metallic member of saddle form closed at its bottom and open at its top and engageable upon a trolley wire to extend beneath the same, said member having sides formed for snapping engagement upon the trolley wire and diverging toward the open top to guide the trolley wire to its seat in the closed bottom, said sides being adaptedfor engagement between the jaws of a suspension clamp and having their edges thickened.

8. A trolley car comprising an elongated metallic member of saddle form closed at its bottom and open at its top and'engageable upon a trolley wire to extend beneath the same, said member having sides formed for snapping engagement upon the trolley wire and diverging toward the open top to guide the trolley wire to its seat in the closed botment between the jaws of a suspension clamp and having edge portions of greater thickness. 1

9. A trolley car comprising an elongated metallic member of saddle form closed at its, bottom and open atits top and engageable upon a trolley wire to extend beneath the tom, said sides being adapted for engagesame, s'aid-memben having sides formed for snapping engagement upon the trolley wire diverging toward the open top to guide thetnolley Wire-t0 its seat in the'closed bottonn sa id sides being adapted for engagement between the jaws of a suspension clamp and having edge portionsof greater thickness, saidsides being'cnt' away beyond the area intended to hegrasped by the clamp.

10. A trolley ear comprisingan elongated metallic member of sadclle formclosed atits bottoniand open at its top and engageable 'upon atrolley wiretorextend beneath the sameysaid member having sides'formed for snapping engagementupon the trolley wire and diverging toward the opentop to guide th'e trolley Wireto its seat in the closed bottomfsaidsides being adapted for engagement between the jaws of a suspension clamp and having edge portions'of greater thickness,

said sides being out away beyond the area intendedtobe grasped by the clamp, the material remaining at the cut away portions being adapted to have its the trolley wire.

' In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature.

" GEORGE WENNAGEL.

out edges peened over 

